The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success-Chapter 31

Break time was almost over.

I reentered the courtroom with an anxious heart. Neither the Empress nor the Crown Prince were visible yet.

‘Ah, seriously, this is the worst.’

My wrist, the one Howard had grabbed earlier, was still throbbing.

‘Baron Roafi... seriously, even to the end...’

I had already left the house.

And yet, they hadn’t even bothered to correct their statement about marrying me off.

‘They’re even worse human beings than I had ever imagined.’

It wasn’t difficult to deal with them. I was just too busy right now to take care of it.

It wasn’t like I didn’t have a way to screw them over. I wouldn’t have stormed out without a plan.

But then the intern suddenly showed up. It was such an unexpected situation.

[It’s because that department seemed too much of a mess to learn anything from. It’s absolutely not because I dislike you.]

Surprisingly, the intern was more sensible than I had thought.

I felt a little embarrassed remembering how I had ranted about him to Luka.

‘I misunderstood him, thinking he was just a foreigner with fluent pronunciation but poor grasp of conversation context...’

Even the way he spoke, which had felt a bit rude, and the way he had so brazenly declared he was leaving before the end of work hours—maybe it was just because he was foreign.

‘I mean, he did say that where he’s from, asking someone what they think about marrying the Crown Prince counts as small talk.’

I had to deliver original story information to Kiaros.

Because of that special circumstance, of course I answered "I should marry him."

‘But normally, no matter how high-ranking someone is, you wouldn’t think about marrying a stranger, right?’

The more I thought about it, the weirder that culture seemed. But trying to be culturally sensitive, I worked hard not to show my confusion.

‘Making casual judgments about other people's cultures is rude, after all.’

Still, if I had been in a position where I could speak freely with Kiaros—say, if I were just a Minister or something—

‘Of course I would’ve flat-out refused.’

My father had always taught me that marriage should be with someone you love.

‘But really, is there a country where you can just casually sell off the Crown Prince’s future like that? Where on earth is he from?’

I didn’t know which country he was from. Honestly, I hadn’t cared enough to find out.

But I decided I should check the official documents later.

Because, for the first time, I found myself a little interested in that intern.

[Anyway, if I ever get another chance to go back, I really want to learn a lot from you.]

He said he wanted to learn a lot from me.

Even though he couldn’t even properly speak Imperial Language, he seemed to have more passion for work than I thought.

‘Well, I guess that’s how he managed to land an internship here despite being a foreigner.’

If I ever met him again, I should pay attention to him in a different way.

Stick close by and really teach him from A to Z, wholeheartedly.

‘Hmm? In the end, isn't this the same conclusion as my original plan to roll him around thoroughly?’

I seriously debated it for a second and then just chuckled.

It wasn’t like that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) would actually happen anyway.

‘Well, he does have a good physique, but still...’

While I was sitting blankly, thinking about the intern and waiting for the trial to resume—

“Namia.”

Someone grabbed my arm again.

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For a moment, I seriously considered sticking a memo on my arm that said "Do not touch."

But this time, the voice was familiar.

“Come out for a second. Hurry. Hurry!”

Whispering urgently, eyes darting around anxiously.

It was a familiar, and thus even more surprising, face.

It was Oson, who had been fidgeting nervously in the courtroom the whole time.

‘What is this now...’

I thought with a startled expression.

‘Just looking at him, it’s obvious he’s about to dump something dirty on me again.’

It was a situation I had come to dread over three years and seven months: him suddenly pushing unreasonable tasks onto me to cover up his own mistakes.

Normally, my face would have automatically shown how annoyed I was.

But things were different now.

‘Actually, this could be good! Let’s hear what he has to say!’

I let Oson pull me to my feet without saying much.

He hurriedly dragged me out of the courtroom.

And he pulled me along down a hallway where no one else was around.

“Namia.”

Oson’s eyes were rolling around more nervously than ever.

He exhaled shakily and said,

“You know it too, right? That I care about you.”

“Huh?”

I was so shocked to hear words I’d never heard before that I almost fainted.

“I’ve always taken good care of you.”

“Huhhh?”

“Honestly, I’ve always rated your abilities highly. I was just too shy to say it.”

“Huhhhhh?”

“I know very well how outstanding you are. I’ve always been watching closely. Hoping for the chance to support you so you could showcase your abilities.”

“Huhhhhhhh?”

In that instant, all the times Oson had told me not to get ahead of myself, that if I wasn’t talented enough to enter the Magic Tower, I should just quietly rot away, flashed through my mind.

But I just blinked innocently, pretending not to know.

“So anyway, Namia.”

“Huhhhhhhhh?”

“You know that I’ve always treated you special, right?”

Oson’s hand even started trembling as he pleaded with me.

It was the first time I had ever seen him look so earnest.

“Please help me out. For the sake of our shared past, okay?”

Our shared past...

Three years and seven months of absolutely consistent days...

Of course, I remembered every second of those precious times.

Even the last conversation I had with Oson just yesterday.

[His Highness the Crown Prince said he would review the document, so I wanted to make some corrections just in case...]

[Ugh, stupid. This is why you’re hopeless. Huh? Can’t you even read the room? You think His Highness has the mental space to look at paperwork right now? Namia, you seriously can’t assess a situation?]

Ugh.

‘How come our team leader himself has no grasp of the situation...’

I desperately held back the words I wanted to say.

And just put on my usual blank expression.

Oson looked around, lowered his voice, and whispered.

“Namia, hurry, make me a teleportation scroll. Right now.”

What he asked for was way beyond what I expected.

I thought he would at most try to force me into some fake testimony.

But a teleportation scroll?

When I blinked in surprise, Oson urged me,

“A teleportation scroll! You can do it, can’t you?”

His eyes were practically bulging out now.

“Team leader, teleportation scroll, all of a sudden...”

I was honestly so dumbfounded I could barely speak.

“First of all, it takes a long time to make, and frankly, it’s faster to just walk thirty centimeters instead of using one.”

Like most scrolls, it wasn’t that powerful physically.

Walking was faster than using a teleportation scroll.

“You can do it!”

Oson, eyes bloodshot, shouted.

“You made 166 defensive scrolls in a single night, and you can’t do this?”

Heh, so he did know that was impressive.

Yet even knowing that, he still scolded me for being talentless and clueless.

“You don’t even need to teleport far. Just outside the palace gates. Okay?”

Uhhh?

I blinked at him blankly.

‘O-outside the palace?’

Just like that, asking me to get him out of here.

Of course, I didn’t have the skill to make a teleportation scroll of that caliber.

Even the Master of the Magic Tower probably couldn’t.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t make one. But honestly, the intention was so obvious that it was just ridiculous.

‘This bastard’s trying to run away in the middle of the trial!’

It really did seem like Oson had something to hide.

This cowardly, petty, nasty man actually seemed to be tied up in the war scandal.

It had been suspicious since he first accused the Empress, but it still managed to surprise me again.

“Namia, hurry! Break’s almost over! You’ve always listened to me so well, haven’t you? Didn’t I teach you well all these years? Huh?”

Of course, the conspiracy was one thing, and Oson being Oson was another.

I had to stay faithful to our relationship.

“Of course, team leader... I’ve learned so much from you...”

I nodded with a pitiful expression.

Oson’s beady eyes widened as he rushed to grab my hand.

But then, my powerless-sounding voice continued.

“Not to get ahead of myself if I have no backing or skills... Not to stand out for no reason, but just sit quietly...”